


Fireworks

by gh0stypeach



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky is shy, Deals with some PTSD stuff like loud noises, F/M, Half of what I write are comfort fics ok, It was almost 4th of July and I couldnt stop thinking about how fireworks might affect Bucky, You are friends with Clint that's why you're there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 23:25:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15254379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0stypeach/pseuds/gh0stypeach
Summary: As an agent and friend of Clint Barton, of course, you get invited to Stark parties. Lord knows he will find any excuse to throw a party and the 4th of July is always a good one. While spending time with your friend, you spy a very handsome man who you learn is Bucky Barnes. This is turning out to be your favorite Stark party. The fireworks start and not really caring, you head downstairs where all the good snacks are kept while everyone else heads to the roof to watch. While opening a cabinet, you hear a noise and go to investigate. What you find is not what you expected.





	1. Who is that?

**Author's Note:**

> I started this like 3 days before the 4th but just got around to finishing and posting. I just randomly started thinking about the affect fireworks might have on Bucky and just had to write this. It's not a specific AU or year or anything, I just kind of wrote it. This felt too long to be one chapter for a fic, but it felt too short to be broken up. I broke it up into 3 anyways. It seems a bit more organized I guess. Anyways, here you go.

The 4th of July, Independence Day. A day full of parades, patriotism, and a week of leftover fireworks. To many people, the fourth is a day of celebration, cookouts and wearing the cheesiest American flag shirt they own. To anyone who works for, sort of knows, or is a friend of a friend of a friend, it’s off to Stark Tower. Every year, Tony Stark has a party. Who’re you kidding, he has parties all the time. Anyways, you were invited to those parties. Being an agent and friend of Clint Barton, of course, you get invited. You have never cared much for Stark parties in the tower, but time spent with any Avenger is time well spent. So, you put on your favorite dress, a light blue Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz pattern on it. Buttons go all the way down and the dress ends a bit past your knees. It has a tie around your waist, is sleeveless and has a collar. You figure it’s patriotic with a bit of 40’s flair, which you always love. At the party, the first person you talk to is Thor who has a booming voice and a beautiful face. You eventually get the chance to ask him where Clint is after about 15 minutes of him just talking. Not that you mind, but you want to go say hey to your friend. He directs you towards the bar. You thank him and head towards Clint  
While you’re talking to Clint, you spy a very handsome man with shoulder length hair and he’s very handsome, had you thought that yet?  
“Who is that?” you ask, pointing subtly to the man conversing with Steve. Clint turns then laughs.  
“If you’re done drooling, I’ll tell you,” he says, cracking a smile.  
“Oh, I was not!” you wave your hand dismissively before you lean towards Clint and whisper  
“But who is he?”  
“Just an old friend of Steve’s,”  
“Old? He’s only been out since 2011…” you start, but then gasp.  
“Is he from the war too?” Clint smiles.  
“No way he’s from the war. He’s young,”  
“Look at his arm,” Clint gestures. You watch and as he turns you see it. A metal arm, shiny and silver.  
“No way. He’s the Winter Soldier?” Clint smiles again. Your jaw might as well be on the floor.  
“Stop staring, people will think you’re weird,” he says, taking a drink.  
“Ok old man,” you mutter.  
“What did you say?”  
“Nothing,” you smile innocently and begin to walk away. “I’m going to talk to the Winter Soldier,” Two steps away, you turn back around.  
“What am I supposed to say to him? I’ve never talked to an ex-HYDRA super soldier before,” you panic, taking a drink of your water. You don’t come to these things to get tipsy.  
“Hey, you come here often? How’s about I buy you a drink,” You do a horrible Brooklyn accent, but who doesn’t. You begin babbling about different things you could say, what you should and shouldn’t say, and what if he doesn’t like you? Your water is gone and when you pause to ask the bartender for another, Clint stops you.  
“Y/N, just be yourself. Bucky doesn’t like these types of things, but he’s working on it. A nice girl who’s a friend of a friend trying to make small talk might help. Go say hey to Steve and you know him, he’ll introduce you two. It’s that easy, yeah?” You take a deep breath and nod before walking over. Right before you reach the two, you turn back to Clint. He gives you a thumbs up and you smile back.  
“Hey Steve, how’re you?”  
“Oh, hey Y/N, I’m doing well,” he turns to you, polite and happy as ever.  
“How’s your day been?”  
“As patriotic as it can get. I can’t tell you how many people stopped me on the street today. Between you and me, more than I care to talk to. It’s fine though, I am Captain America,” he laughs, acting like he’s holding his shield and saluting. You laugh too, but then your smile drops.  
“Oh crap, it’s your birthday isn’t it?”  
“Yeah, most people forget…”  
“Aw, well happy birthday, man! How old are you now, 65 million? ” You playfully punch his arm, but it’s like hitting a rock, the man is so full of muscle.  
“Yeah, I fought Nazi Dinosaurs. You wouldn’t believe it, but they’re not as scary as you think…” He seems to drift off into thought then suddenly says “Hey, have you met Bucky?”   
“N-no, I don’t think I have…” you stutter, becoming almost immediately nervous. Why are you so nervous? He’s a friend of Steve’s, so he’s got to be a good guy. Is it because he’s very handsome, have you mentioned how handsome he is?  
“Buck, this is my friend Y/N L/N. Y/N, this is Bucky Barnes,”  
“Hi…” you say, sticking your hand out.  
“Hey,” Bucky shakes your hand with a small smile. He’s tall and his eyes are the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, and you’ve met Steve Rogers and Thor Odinson. You’re not sure what to say, so you go with the most average, basic thing to start.  
“So… how’s your day been?”   
“It’s… been… good… I like your dress,” he replies quietly.  
“Thank you, it’s my favorite one,” you give a light laugh. He just smiles slightly. He seems really nervous to talk to you, this poor beautiful boy. You don’t know the extent of everything he’s been through, but you know it must have been pretty bad. You can’t even begin to imagine it.


	2. Do you like to dance?

After taking to sitting at a table and a while of talking, you’ve been able to get Bucky out of his shell a bit. You even managed to make him laugh a few times and what a wonderful sight it was. A smile really suits him. Somehow you got on the topic of modern swing and how much you both like it. Just as you finish another water, you stand.  
“I’ll be right back,” You make your way to the small group of people that you know Tony will be talking to. You find him kicked back in a chair, a drink in hand, telling some joke about some rich thing. You don’t care enough to pay attention. He finishes the joke and of course everyone laughs. It’s Tony Stark, he tells a joke, you laugh. You take this as your chance to talk to him.  
“Hey, when you get a chance, do you think you could get the DJ to play something by Michael Buble? It’s kind of important…” You’ve known Tony about as long as you’ve known Clint, just aren’t as good of friends. You’re pretty sure he’ll say yes.  
“Important, huh?” He gives an exaggerated wink. He’s clearly tipsy. “Sure. Actually, I was just about to get up, so I’ll go now. It’ll be the next song,” he smiles, standing.  
“Thank you,” you say quickly before hurrying back to the table where Bucky is.  
“Okay, I’m back. Now where were we?” you ask sitting down, resting your chin in your hand.  
“I don’t remember,” Bucky says.  
“Neither do I,” you smile. The current song fades out and For Once in My Life by Michael Buble comes on. Bucky immediately turns to the DJ then back to you.  
“This you?” he asks.  
“Maybe,” you shrug, a big smile on your face.  
“Hey, do you like to dance?” he stands, holding his hand out.  
“Uh… yeah,” you say, taking it. You don’t know the first thing about dancing properly, but you figure you can wing it. Bucky pulls you out onto the dance floor and assumes classic ballroom position, placing your hand on his shoulder. He begins swaying along to the rhythm and pulls you a little closer.  
“How’d you manage this at this party?” he asks.  
“I’ve got connections,” you smile up at him. His shoulder is so big, you just kind of rest your hand on it. You then realize you’re holding his left hand. His metal one. You would’ve never known if it didn’t feel so hard and cold.  
“Connections? You?”  
“Well, when you’ve known Tony a few years, you can pull a few strings at these things,” you shrug. When the song picks up a bit, he spins you and you can’t help but laugh. At the instrumental break, he leads a jazzy, exaggerated one-two step that lines up with the hits of the music. At the end of the song, he spins you out then back towards him like they do in the movies. He lets go and you turn to face him, hands on his chest. You admittedly could get used to that feeling. He’s smiling and it’s the best. You just giggle. You’ve never really danced like that before. You don’t have much time to think about it because You Make Me Feel So Young comes on and you’re pulled right back into dancing.  
“This one you too?” Bucky asks.  
“Guess Tony threw in a second song. Like a buy one get one free deal,” you say. Bucky laughs at what you thought was a lame joke but it must not have been to him. You two continue to dance and it’s probably the most fun you’ve had at a Stark party. Not that they’re not fun, but it’s better with him. You’ve known him less than two hours and you already feel this connection with him. It’s not solely romantic, but a somewhat big part of it is. After a few more twirls, dips, and jumps, he pulls you close at the ending piano riff. You’re practically against his chest. You look up into his cold blue eyes and are your faces closer? You think they are. There’s no time for anything though because Wanda walks up.  
“Hey Y/N,” she smiles and you step away from Bucky a bit.  
“Hey Wanda, how are you?” you say, hoping she didn’t see you. You’ll tell her later, you’re pretty good friends, but it’s kind of embarrassing. You turn to Bucky and quietly say  
“Do you mind if I go and hang out with her a bit?”  
“No, no, not at all,” he shakes his head.  
“Alright, I’ll catch up with you later,” You smile before turning around and walking off with Wanda. You feel bad about leaving him, but he seemed okay with it.


	3. Will you stay?

While with Wanda, you kind of lose track of time. Soon enough, Tony is making an announcement that the fireworks will be starting soon. You’ve never really been too fond of fireworks. They’re cool, but you don’t really like being in a large group of people on the roof of Stark Tower to watch explosions when your job deals with bomb defusal.  
“Are you going up?” Wanda asks, standing.  
“No, I don’t think so,” you reply.  
“Why not?”  
“I don’t know, I just don’t really see the appeal in them. Plus it’s gonna be crowded up there. It always is,”  
“Alright,” she shrugs. “Well, I’ll see you later,”  
“See ya,” you wave, sitting in the emptying room. Once the room is mostly clear, you take one more sip of your water and go to find Bucky. You don’t see him on this floor and assume he went with the others, so you head to the floor with the Avengers’ quarters. Clint told you that you’re welcome there a while ago. You want a snack and know the good ones will be in the kitchenette that’s by the large living room. Looking in the cabinets, you can hear the fireworks begin to go off. As you continue looking you hear a noise come from a room that sounds both like a yell and a bit of a whimper.  
“Hello?” you yell, a bit scared. The reply you hear is a door closing rather forcefully. You put the bag of chips back up in the cabinet and go to investigate. The door you stop in front of has “BARNES” across it at about eye level. You’re not sure what’s going on or if you should even bother him, but you have to know. You knock softly but there’s no reply.  
“Bucky? It’s Y/N,” you say. Still no reply. You slowly open the door.  
“Buck-” you start, but stop. In front of you is an ex-HYDRA super soldier wrapped in a blanket on his bed with noise canceling headphones on and his eyes closed in a mostly dark room. This poor, poor man. You didn’t even think about this. You wonder if Steve knows about this and consider going to get him. That would take a few minutes though, and you don’t want him to have to do this alone any longer than he has to. You quietly walk up to him and place a gentle hand on his shoulder.  
“Hey, Buck,” You’re saddened even further when he jumps at your touch. He turns to look at you as he pauses his music and takes the headphones off.  
“Sorry Y/N, I didn’t know you were here,” he whispers. Sitting next to him, you move your hand from his shoulder to his back.  
“You doing alright?” You almost regret asking this. You know the answer, but it just felt necessary. He just looks at you and he seems so vulnerable. The look in his eyes breaks your heart. Here is this strong, hardened soldier, wrapped up in a thick blanket, trying to keep the noise out. He flinches when another firework goes off. Scooting closer, you place your other hand on his arm.  
“It’s alright, you’re okay,” you whisper, resting your head on his shoulder.  
“Do you want me to go get Steve?” you ask, leaning away a bit. He hesitates a moment before saying  
“No,”  
“Okay. Well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” He nods and you stand to leave. After taking a step, you feel him grab your hand. You turn to see Bucky staring at you, looking as though he doesn’t know what he wants to say.  
“Is something wrong?” you ask. What a stupid question, of course there is. You hope he knows what you meant though.  
“Y/N, will you… will you stay with me?”  
“O-of course,” you stutter, sitting back next to him. “Is there anything I can do or get for you?” Are you being too overbearing?  
“Just… stay,” he whispers, thumb rubbing your hand. You didn’t even realize he was still holding it.  
“O-okay…” He feels awful, you know, but you can’t help but feel a blush dust your cheeks. Wondering if talking will help distract him, you make small talk.  
“What were you listening to earlier?”  
“Oh, just some Glenn Miller. It uh… it calms me,” he says, holding up the old iPod. You know he’s new to technology, so you guess they gave him an older, simpler version to get used to.  
“Really? I love Glenn Miller. I keep a couple of my grandma's old records at my apartment along with her old Victrola record player from the 40’s,” This gets his attention.  
“That’s really cool,”  
“Yeah, you should come over and see it sometime,” you smile.  
“Yeah,” he replies, still quiet. You look down to your hands, still together and watch as his thumb moves back and forth on the back of your hand. Suddenly though, you process what just happened. You just told him he should come over to your apartment and he said yes. In your silence, more fireworks go off and he jumps again.  
“You’re okay,” you say and almost instinctively put your other hand on his arm.  
“Do you… want to listen to Glenn Miller with me? I have other headphones we can use,” he says, but you can tell he still wants to use the noise canceling ones.  
“Actually, I know just the thing. I think Tony keeps it in the junk drawer. I’ll be right back, I promise,” you stand and hurry out the door, but feel bad for leaving him. You hurry to the kitchen and locate the junk drawer before rummaging through it, pulling out a tangled pair of headphones while you’re at it so Bucky doesn’t have to get up and get his. Fireworks continue to go off as you keep looking and you hope he’s put his headphones back on while he waits for you. Finally, you find it. You grab the headphones from off the counter and head back to Bucky’s room. As you’re walking, you realize just where you’re going. The circumstances aren’t the best, but you blush anyways. You enter the room quietly and he looks to you as if he’s glad you’re back. You sit next to him and he pauses the music, taking his headphones off.  
“Check this out,” you say holding the object up. “This is called a headphone splitter. It lets us both plug in our headphones into the same device. This way you can keep wearing your headphones and not hear the fireworks, but I can listen too,” you smile. He silently hands you the device and you plug everything in. Handing it back, he hits play and the soothing sound of halfway through Moonlight Serenade plays. When the next song starts, you lean against him and close your eyes. You feel him take your hand and he begins rubbing his thumb against your hand again. You wonder if that helps calm him. Just before the words start, you recognize it as The Nearness of You. You can’t help but give a small smile at the words  
_It isn't your sweet conversation_  
_That brings this sensation_  
_Oh no, it's just the nearness of you_  
You hope that someday the two of you can dance together to this song. It was so perfect with the Buble songs, but you would love to dance to a classic song with him. As the music continues to play, the more at home you feel here, next to Bucky Barnes.

You’re about half asleep when you hear your phone ding in your small purse next to you. You want nothing more than to stay like this forever, but you check it anyway. It’s a text from Wanda and you sigh. Bucky realizes the weight from his shoulder is gone and looks over to you.  
“What’s wrong?” he asks, seeing the sad look on your face.  
“Wanda just texted me and said the fireworks are over,”  
“That’s good, right?” He seems confused.  
“Yeah, yeah, it’s great, I was just…” you trail off, stuffing your phone back in your purse, slinging it over your shoulder and standing.  
“I really enjoyed spending time with you, I really did, but I should probably go… you know… now that the party is over…” You don’t want to leave, but you feel like you should.  
“Yeah, I understand,” He seems reluctant to let you go. You feel bad for leaving him, but knowing the fireworks are over make you feel better. You’ll be back, Clint invites you to hang out with them all the time, but you don’t want to wait.  
“Well… hopefully I’ll see you again soon,” you give a halfhearted smile and turn to leave. You’re almost through the door when you hear him say  
“Y/N, wait,” You turn and he’s standing.  
“Yes?” You step towards him. He walks up to you and wraps you in a tight hug. You’re taken by surprise but hug him back.  
“Thank you. Thank you for staying,”  
“O-oh, it was no problem,” He leans back and smiles at you.  
“Y/N, I don’t know if you understand how much this helped. Thank you so much,”  
“Any time,” you smile. He stares into your eyes for a moment before leaning towards you. You watch as his eyes close and he tilts his head. You lean in too and your lips brush before he presses his lips against yours. It’s clumsy and his lips are chapped, but it’s soft and sweet and you’re more breathing each other in than actually kissing. He pulls away and you want nothing more than to do it again. You place your hands on his cheeks and pull him towards you again. You just hold his lips against yours for a few seconds longer before pulling away and setting your hands on his shoulders. He stares at you a minute before a big smile grows on his face.  
“So about that record player…”


End file.
